How to go about glass bedding?

[Maillemaker]

So I'm thinking about glass bedding my Pedersoli P58. I have an acraglass gel kit.

How should I go about plugging up the cavity for the spoon and, more importantly, the exposed lock? I was thinking of using some foam rubber packed into the spoon cavity, and maybe use some tape to mask off the lock hole?





Steve

[Gary Van Kauwenbergh, 101]

I use Play-doh to pack all the cavities.

[Carolina Reb]

You can mask over the spoon cut, and the tang screw hole, and anything else that needs masking, with plain old painter?s tape. After bedding, it is easy to cut out the holes with an exacto knife. You will also want to plug the screw hole in the barrel tang. A piece of dowel that fights tight in the hole works well. You might need to whittle one out of a larger dowel. Dress it off smooth with the bottom surface of the tang.


Strip all the parts off the lock plate, paint it with mold release and install the side nail screws from the outside, then install the plate in the stock. This way you can seat the bolster properly against the lockplate.


The breech and tang areas are critical, but as long as your stock is straight you don?t need to bed down past the front of the lock plate. Mask the spoon cut, but only to prevent stray bedding compound from getting in there. Sand off any high points in the barrel channel that are pressing on the barrel, and be sure that the stock isn?t pulling away from the muzzle at the tip. If it is, you may need to full length glass bed to pull the warp out.


When you bed the barrel, be sure that the bolster is down against the lock plate and the muzzle is seated in the nose cap. Use painter?s tape to hold everything together until the epoxy sets, don?t put the bands on to hold the barrel.

[Maillemaker]

Thanks for all the tips.

I'm going to use playdough to plug the places where I don't want the epoxy to go, and great idea on the masking tape barrel bands.

I'm going to go ahead and do a full-length bed.

Steve

[Robt. Propst]

Steve, Brannen *Southron* Sanders wrote a Skirmish Line article on this topic. I scanned it and emailed it to you. Have fun, Bob

[mike davenport]

i would suggest children's clay as apposed to play dough, play dough drys hard, shrinks
have you "blacked " your barrel and laid it in the stock? with the tang screw installed you should have a $1 bills clearance all over
those are the places you need to relieve the wood, use a tool from brownells made for scraping the barrel channel or you can make your own out of stainless steel spoon
i would not tape the bands
use a good quality auto wax ( turtle or dupont) and cover the inside and outside, the screws and whole outside of the barrel
mix you glass and pour in, clean up excess and wait 4 hours
after 4 hours "crack" the screws then the next day take it apart and clean and reassemble and go try it out
mike

Thanks for all the tips.

I'm going to use playdough to plug the places where I don't want the epoxy to go, and great idea on the masking tape barrel bands.

I'm going to go ahead and do a full-length bed.

Steve

[Harry Gaul]

The problem that I have with Glass bedding is that I want it to done and done quickly. Working with glass bedding is like coming upon a wall with a "wet paint" sign attached. You just want to touch it. I do most of my glass bedding right before bed so I am not tempted to "touch" it. I have been known to glass bed a stock right before vacation just so I am not tempted to touch it. Use plenty of wax as a releaser. The wax should be dry. If you use tint, very little tint goes a long way.

Best of luck,
TBDH,

Harry
03626v

[Rick R]

You nailed it Harry, exactly how I get. Unlike others who have posted here I do bed the tang screw. I forget the time recommendation but I make sure I back that bugger out at the bare bones minimum cure time. I get nervous every time but have always managed to get things apart. I also use hair spray as an extra release agent but not for the main parts. Every now and then you might get a little extra ooze on the stock where you didn't expect it and if you sprayed it you'll be darned glad you did.

[Maillemaker]

So I have successfully glass bedded my first rifle.

The good news is it all came apart - nothing got permanently epoxied into the stock.



The bad news is, in keeping with my long-standing tradition of screwing up the first kind of any project I undertake, I did not fully tighten the tang screw. I did not do this because before the tang would get pulled under-flush with the wood, which looked bad. So, knowing there was bedding now under the tang to support it, I only tightened the screw enough to pull the tang flush with the wood of the stock. But, this left a gap between the bolster and the lock plate. Oh well, nothing for it now.






Steve

[Eggman]

Gosh Steve that's really too bad. I agree, with a gap like that the gun is now pure junk. I'll tell you what though, rather than just throw it out, I'll give you $50 for it. Let me know.